Daft question but ... how long does it take?!

[lifesnotaspectatorsport]

We've been potty training DS, 25 months, for a week. He's definitely making progress - he's in pants all day and whereas on day 1 we went through 10 pairs, by now it's 3-4. He's done pees and poos on the potty although we are still getting a couple of accidents a day (no poo ones for the last 2 days, thankfully). He's tough to predict because he's a real camel and can hold his pee easily for 3-4 hours 😮 Then of course it's a lake when he does let go, hence we often see a wet patch as he tells us he needs to go potty. We've tried putting him on hourly but often nothing happens (and now we suspect he does it to get videos... 😳).

We both think we should persevere as he's done so well but we are wondering how long it will take before we can reliably take him out etc. Any advice? How long did your kids take if they were around his age?

Oops, that should be 27 months!

That is a 'How long is a piece of string?' question! Every DC is different. No one can tell you how long your DC will take to be reliably dry in the day. What I can say is that accidents often persist for months, so it's a good idea to carry wipes and spare undies until you're 100% secure (which in the case of my DC was around the time they started Reception).

Following with interest, as I'm thinking of starting my 25 month dd fairly soon. Don't think she's ready yet though as she's not done a single wee on the potty yet

With dc it took him about 2 days BUT I prompted him whenever I thought he'd need to go. Are you prompting him or leaving him to it?

I mean I continued to prompt him for weeks afterwards, and still do before we leave the house, bed etc.

Couple weeks to be dry day and night. He only pooed once in his pants and that was so traumatic for the both of us (really yucky sticky mess) he never did that again! I think he wet the bed maybe once or twice after that. My daughter the same.

I took a week off work and pretty much stayed home that week to follow DS around picking up all the clues it was toilet time! He did crack it in that time and went straight to pants/dry at night. However, that was prob more Luck than judgement! I didn't follow a plan. He was about 26 months

Depends on the child, the age, and whether they've instigated it or you have.
My eldest took a week with the odd accident. My second had no accidents at all. Both were older than your son (2 and half and 3 years respectively) and both asked to not wear nappies any more.
I was so anxious about it and it was the least stress free transition ever.

3 days but I waited until they were just about to turn 3. Twins and the idea of dealing with two not quite there yet toddlers out and about was pretty horrifying.

How long is a piece of string (or in this case how long is a trail of pee ;)
....
Our children were mostly dry day and night within a week (shortest was 24 hrs and longest still had regular accidents for 6 months, though that was mostly through stubborness as he would be stomping on the floor holding himself but still not go to potty because he was still trying to play).
We started the oldest about 24 months , but quickly realised they were nowhere near ready. So each of them were nearly 3 years old before "real" potty training .... although they would have been able to sit on potty and know what to do before that. Also kept on taking them to loo at regular intervals for months afterwards.

Thanks all.

We instigated it although he was coming to us when he'd done a poo and asking for a nappy change. He's very verbal, so fully understands the process, and we'd been changing nappies after a few hours eg at bedtime and finding them dry so we knew he had bladder control.

Yes, we prompt him regularly. He will also sometimes tell us he needs to go eg coming into our room in the morning and saying 'I need to go potty' even though he still has his nappy on.

I'm thinking as he's still on the young side maybe it will take a few weeks before he's mostly dry and yes, emergency pants/ clothing change/wipes whenever we go out. Sounds like we should persevere though 😊

DS1: 8 months
DS2: 2 days

With my son it took a few days, mainly because it took that long to get him to see that a potty isn't dangerous ;)

What do you mean by that? " We've tried putting him on hourly but often nothing happens (and now we suspect he does it to get videos... 😳)."

@Nitw1t 8 months! How old were they when you started?

@SmartPlay We started off showing him videos to get him to sit on the potty - since iPad is normally a treat, I think he started to say he needed to go even if he didn't, just to get videos! Stopped that yesterday - but then we had 4 accidents because he didn't tell us he needed to go. Aargh, I hate potty training!

@lifesnotaspectatorsport I used a little bribery (snacks) at the beginning as well, because he was scared to pee/poo in the potty. If you want to go the bribery/reward way, I would only do it if he actually made something into the potty.

And take off his pants, they make if much harder. Leave him naked!

@lifesnotaspectatorsport he was 2 yrs and 8mo- but he was dry no problem, dry at night but during the day he just wouldn't go. At all. Gave himself UTI after UTI holding it for 12 hrs until he wet himself, and major constipation as well.

Got a new loo seat and he magically started going straight on the loo after months and months of battling / going back to nappies / bribing / begging / sobbing. I was a broken woman.

Left DS2 as long as possible, (he was 3y and 4mo) and he cracked it in no time. I was sooo relieved.

Good luck! I hope yours is more the latter experience!

@Nitw1t Oh no, the poor wee soul! Must have been so hard for you. It's crazy how long they can hold it.

DS is still making progress. We're getting most of the pees in the potty (he holds it till he has a proper lake though) but still having daily poo accidents. He'll say he needs to go, sit for a minute, change his mind and then do it in his pants 5 minutes later 🙄

Depends on the child etc. With my oldest it took four tries over the course of a year, before it took a week. He wasn;t dry overnight for the next few years. Middle learned in 2 days flat, dry overnight instantly. Third took maybe a week, dry over night in a couple of months.

but then we had 4 accidents because he didn't tell us he needed to go

I wouldn't be waiting for him to tell you. If he's not going hourly but can hold it, the avergae is roughly about 2 hours before needing to wee. Try every two hours to see - just put him on, don't ask him if he needs to go.

@YouJustDoYou Hmm, we tried that but he gets very irate if we put him on it without asking! He will just get straight off again. I do prompt him - do you need to go? And sometimes he says yes. Sigh. I hate potty training.

We have a long haul flight in a couple of weeks. I think I'll have to resort to pull-ups for that in case of accidents 🤦🏻‍♀️

Depends not just on the child but on the method. I think the pants on method takes longer, particularly with under 3's. With mine I've done bare bum first. Once they have that reliably then you try pants and I've had accidents with them all. Solved it with loose shorts no underwear, then finally underwear. It means staying at home longer since you can't take them out naked, but the whole training process is waaay quicker.